{"id":739804,"date":"2026-06-16T08:55:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:55:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/739804\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T08:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T08:55:08","slug":"our-team-is-the-most-oppressed-iran-coach-hits-out-at-fifa-and-us-over-treatment-world-cup-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/739804\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Our team is the most oppressed\u2019: Iran coach hits out at Fifa and US over treatment | World Cup 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Iran captain Mehdi Taremi, midfielder Mohammad Mohebi, and head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at Fifa and hinted at resentment toward the US government after being told they needed to leave Los Angeles immediately after Monday night\u2019s 2-2 draw<\/a> against New Zealand in the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is like disaster, actually, for us,\u201d said Taremi, who added that Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, visited the team in the dressing room and they expressed their concerns to him directly.<\/p>\n

Ghalenoei said the way they have been treated by Fifa makes them \u201cthe most oppressed\u201d team at the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the game today they said to us, \u2018You have to leave immediately,\u2019\u201d Ghalenoi said. \u201cWhereas today it\u2019s very important for us to have recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been asked to get on a plane and return to our camp in Tijuana and we are really troubled by that. They are forcing us to go back early. They are making the situation more and more difficult, more hurdles, but we\u2019re not going to let that stop us from doing our best.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know why they\u2019re returning us, to be honest. I think it\u2019s very strange. It seems like others are doing the planning for us \u2026 We were supposed to arrive two nights before the game but they didn\u2019t permit [it]. We were supposed to stay here tonight to recover and return tomorrow lunchtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our team is the most oppressed one in the whole World Cup<\/a>. Our federation isn\u2019t here, our media isn\u2019t here, our management isn\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran captain Mehdi Taremi said the team was supposed to stay in Los Angeles for recovery. Photograph: Chris Torres\/EPA<\/p>\n

Infantino went into the Iran<\/a> dressing room after the game and a video of his message to the squad was shared online, in which Infantino and Ghalenoei exchanged words, via a member of staff translating.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou showed to your families, friends, to your people, to the world, that you\u2019re in the World Cup, that you perform and you have two more games to go,\u201d Infantino said. \u201cIn these two games, you will make again everyone in the world proud of what you do. Thank you for being here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also a big, big emotion. I know what you go through, I understand, but you are stronger than everything. You send a strong message to the entire world. Like tonight you united the whole stadium here, you united the whole stadium behind you, behind Team Melli. You are sending such a strong message to the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me say one more thing: this is just the beginning of the World Cup. You are writing history, the whole world is watching you. Continue to play with your heart, for your people, your families, for your fans and for everyone in the world that is falling in love with Team Melli. You are stronger than everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taremi criticised a logistical situation that has seen the team forced to abandon their planned training base in Tucson, Arizona weeks before the tournament, instead training across the border in Tijuana, Mexico and flying in to the US shortly before games.<\/p>\n

The team moved its training base to avoid immigration concerns that turned out to be well founded \u2013 after arriving in Mexico, 15 of the team\u2019s support staff were denied visas to enter the US, where all of Iran\u2019s group stage games are taking place. That number was later reduced to 11 after some visas were approved.<\/p>\n

The team still arrived in Los Angeles minus both of their media officers, some analysts, and federation president, Mehdi Taj. Another analyst for the team served as a stand-in media aide for Taremi and Mohebi\u2019s appearance, which a Fifa official repeatedly attempted to stop as both players continued answering questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s not good for the football,\u201d Taremi said. \u201cIn [the] World Cup, you have to prepare good for the next game, which is a lot of stress for the players and the staff and everyone. But we don\u2019t have that support, and I think Fifa have to help us more than this. Let\u2019s see what\u2019s going to happen in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran faced delays in their travel from Tijuana to Los Angeles, a short trip that Taremi said took five hours. He did not specify what caused the delays, but it was understood that the immigration process was the main cause.<\/p>\n

Taremi and Mohebi said being forced to leave immediately afterward would negatively affect the players\u2019 performance at the tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s supposed to be: tomorrow morning recovery, then we fly to Tijuana, then we return to LA again, but right now we have to go back,\u201d Taremi said.<\/p>\n

Mohebi added: \u201cYesterday we came, started the trip in the morning, and we arrive [in the] afternoon, and we directly go to train, and we get tired, you know? I think [it wa] supposed to be, we come here two days before the game. This kind of deal, I think, is not fair \u2026 we\u2019re going to get fatigued \u2013 hamstring, lower back, glutes \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

By contrast, Ghalenoei praised the warmth of co-hosts Mexico and many Mexicans were in attendance supporting Iran at the Los Angeles Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mexican people, the Mexican government, especially the people in Tijuana, made us feel at home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Iran captain Mehdi Taremi, midfielder Mohammad Mohebi, and head coach Amir Ghalenoei hit out at Fifa and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-739804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}